1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an optical measuring device for a vehicle of the type mentioned in the first part of claim 1 and also to an appertaining vehicle comprising such an optical measuring device.
2. Description of the Related Art
From patent application EP 1 902 912 A1 for example, there is known a motor vehicle comprising a sensor device which monitors parts of an external area of the motor vehicle for the presence of a body-part of a person or of an object. For this purpose, the sensor device is attached and oriented in such a way that a part of a leg or a foot of a person standing beside the motor vehicle is moveable by means of a simple body movement such as raising and/or swinging the leg or foot for example into the part of the triggering region of the motor vehicle that is being monitored by the sensor arrangement. Then, after successful authentication of the person, a corresponding process opens a door, a bonnet and/or a boot if the body movement in the monitored area is recognized.
In patent specification DE 10 2004 041 709 C5 for example, there is known a vehicle having an automatically opening flap. The vehicle described comprises a flap that opens automatically in response to an opening command wherein the opening command is produced without manual actuation of an unlocking and/or locking mechanism, and also comprises a proximity sensor and a control device that is actively connected to an unlocking and/or locking mechanism for the automatically opening flap on the one hand and to the proximity sensor on the other. The control device is constructed in such a manner that it recognizes the presence of a valid access authorization means within a surrounding region and, upon recognizing a valid access authorization means, activates the unlocking and/or locking mechanism for enabling the automatically opening flap in dependence on the presence of an unlocking signal from the proximity sensor. The proximity sensor is arranged on the vehicle in such a manner that its direction of sensitivity for the detection of objects is directed downwardly towards the surface of the road so that a person can switch on the proximity sensor by swinging his foot in the area between the vehicle bodywork and the road surface.
The solutions described presuppose that the person knows the exact position of the sensor arrangement or the proximity sensor and the appertaining detection region in order to enable the requisite switching signal to be produced by the movement described.